TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 95, 24 April 1911, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

This year the Bible-in-SchooLs Leaguo has not been stirring School up any appreciable Committees excitement for tho To-night. election of 6chool committees, but it must not be assumed that the league ifi not ready for a strong moyo merely because it has not noisily given notice of motion. The league has issued a circular, and its members will no doubt do their best to-night to secure committees favourable to the league's ideals. Unhappily, ihe many of the national system's friends are apt to assume .thai it is not vv-orfch while attending the annual meetings of 'householders, especi- | ally when a cold, damp southerly makes the glowing fire-side preferable to a grey school-room. Circumstances (including the weather) make it more important than ever that sturdy supporters of the secular regime should be at 'their posts to-night, to fight for principles which the experience of thirty years has proved good for New Zealand. Developments, bath in this country and j Australia, have probably tended to fortify the Bible party, and they have ibhe additional strategic advantage that a general election is to come between today and tho next election of school committees. Once it eeemed that the Bible-in-Schcols enthusiasts would be satisfied with a general application of the Nelson system, which does nofc unduly interfere with the secular conrsenor introduce the element of sectarian brtterness, but it has been mad© plain lately that the opponents of the national system are aiming at something larger than the modest Nelson example. We are not raising ;,my false alarm. It is very important til at the secular party should be strongly represented at to-night's meetings. Even if candidates are complaining that the people are not eufBemember ficiently interested in the Wednesday. City Council and Har\bour Board elections, it is comforting to ccc a 3tdr among the candidates themselves. Practically all of the thirty-six applicants for council seats are demonstrating that they are in earnest. Not all have shown any extensive knowledge of the ecope of municipal activities, but they have all given some evidence that they value the privilege of representing the burgesees. Many have spoken publicly, and have bestirred themselves to set the public thinking of civic affairs. It is only right that these meetings should be heid, even if the attendances during this campaign have not been very encouraging. The City Council is a local' Parliament, of large powers, with a two years' Lenure of office. It ie very desirable, therefore, that at a general election past policy and passible or probable future policies should be fully discussed. People, of course, are swayed by habit. For many years it was not the practice of council candidates to address one meeting, and the people had consequently almost ceased to expect such meetings, but we hope to see thk attitude much changed fo' % the better before Hie ensuing two years have passed. Time has brought very large recponsibilitiee to the council of Greater Wellington, and the need of -wise government necessarily becomes more emphasised with the city's growth. B> their attendance at many of the meetings the electors have not indicated that they are intensely thrilled by the issues put before them. This is not necessarily a gauge of the public mind, but the balloting on Wednesday will be a fair test. This election should also reveal the measure of appreciation of the widened franchise. The additional factor of the half-holiday poll, which closely concent the city from the viewpoints of both business and recreation, should also stimulate the electors. With the be«,t possible soil and climate for the raising of food The National and raw materials for Importance manufactures, no coun of Iron. try can be thoroughly self-contained without an iron industry. The true Briton does j not forget to quote, "pluck" and determination as the foundation of Great Britain's industrial and commercial greatness, but let not coal and iron be forgotten in the count. Britain was first in the running in the modern iron age, with good ore and good coal. Germany's rapid development into a rival ironmaster has seriously perturbed many deep-thinking Britons, especially as they know that their country has now to draw largely on Spain for ore. Similarly, that vague phrase the "awakening of China" has more meaning to iron experts than to casual observers. China has immense resources of iron ore, and coal measures of quality enough to suit. The Chinese are quickly grasping the importance of iron in the racial struggle for existence and domination. Aue-

tralia has been slow to learn the iron lesson, but it is plain now that the leaders of the people are realising xhat strong nationhood must be secured on a solid iron foundation. New Zealand can well have aspirations for n, real iron industry, and though the ideal may yet be remote in this country of a million people, it is very essential to have this ideal kept in the foreground. If New Zealand ia not yet in a position to work the ores on any great scale, the Government can prevenv the export of ore to other countries. This matter was mentioned at Christchurch last week, and it well deserves the people's attention. Some reference to it was made in Parliament last year, and we believe that the Ministei of Mines (the Hon. R. M'Kenzie) pronounced himself hostile to any system of exportation. New Zealand will assuredly need for herself all tho workable ore that is now in sight.

Germany, according to recent cable news, is taking up the " Standardisation " subject of an inof Language. ternational language, and there is a movement in official circles in favour of summoning an international congress in 1912 to consider the question of making such a language a. compulsory .■subject in all the public echools of the leading nations. ' Standardisation ' — the selection from an unlimited number of possible forms of a limited and systematically correlated number to be used by all men, is in. its present form a modem development. The Whitworth screw system, for example, is a worldwide boon. By its means the possessor of a standard microscope can attach to it adjuncts manufactured by houses in various parts of the world, freely interchangeable. But the 1 rootidea, ifi centuries old, and it began, apparently, in proposals by far-seeing men like Lord Bacon and Bishop Wilkins for a " universal character " or script and an artificial world-language. In the twentieth century, apparently, the dreani may be realised — not by the extirpation of the older forms, but by the acceptance of a world-standard. The Roman — or, more correctly, Romanic — character, with additional characters where necessary (nowhere more needed than iv English), is gradually becoming the world's . working alphabet, Its chief rival, the decorative but cumbrous Arabic, ifi immeasurably inferior from every practical point of view, and the Chinese ideograms, used by a third of the earth's population, ha,ve become hopelessly entangled with phonetic forms, and even then require a lifetime to ma-ster. A few weeke ago we received a specimen of the Scriptures in a missionary modification of the Roman alphabet, adapted to all the languages of India, in which a hundred and fifty tongues, requiring in the native pylla-baries some twenty thousand characters, are perfectly printed with" fiftythree types. Hitherto, however, the universal tongue has been lacking. "Volapuk" was for some years taught in all countries, but had radical defects, and so many rivals appeared that for a time the world was tlireatened with as many " universal " as historic languages. But "Esperanto,"' from its well-chosen roots and other merits, has now so completely occupied the field that no competitor would seem to have any opportunity. Acquired in a few weeks, it has been used in correspondence and at international assemblies by men of all colours and tongues. Compulsory subjects are not to be lightly multiplied, and if a '" universal " speech should be adopted, some other secondary language at present compulsory might have to givo way. Eepsranto has a grave defect in its- script-— some hideous Slavonic diacritics with which it disfigures its alphabet ; but this could be remedied, and the benefits of the system, now well) tested, are so obvious that the proposal may have practical results. In any event, the supremacy of the English language has nothing to fear. i